Deconstructing Power: Ideologies, Webs of Hyper-reality and Metanarratives in Hamid’s <i>The Spinner’s Tale</i>

Qasim Ali Kharal; Shanza Dilawar

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ellc.20251004.11

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Deconstructing Power: Ideologies, Webs of Hyper-reality and Metanarratives in Hamid’s The Spinner’s Tale

Qasim Ali Kharal^*

, Shanza Dilawar

Published in English Language, Literature & Culture (Volume 10, Issue 4)

Received: 28 May 2025 Accepted: 5 October 2025 Published: 30 October 2025

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Abstract

This research explores the ideologies that help individuals gain power and control over people through the analysis of Omer Shahid Hamid’s The Spinner’s Tale. Main characters in the novel, like Ausi and Omer, have used religious ideology to empower and attain their personal objectives. Political, religious, and social ideologies are narratives simulated through media and feigns to extend political power. This qualitative study tries to bridge the social and religious ideologies through a theoretical framework of hyper-reality and concept of metanarrative. The intertwined postmodern theorists included Jean-Francois Lyotard, Jean Baudrillard, and Fredric Jameson to help reveal the construction of dominant/totalizing metanarratives. This study tries to fill the gap through exploring post-9/11 socio-political anxieties bridging contemporary Pakistani literary criticism. The idea mirrors local narratives, broadening global discourses of terrorism intervened through hyper-real constructs of media and state power. The article develops strong argument to mark digital saturation, surveillance, and ideological fragmentation in present era disclosing Pakistan struggling with identity, belonging, and resistance through narrative of The Spinner’s Tale. The findings indicate towards an intentional vagueness of the novel's inference to highlight the necessity to inquire the narratives that are popular in postcolonial societies through the lens of a postmodern theoretical framework.

Published in	English Language, Literature & Culture (Volume 10, Issue 4)
DOI	10.11648/j.ellc.20251004.11
Page(s)	128-136
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Postmodernism, Hyper-reality, Grand Metanarratives, Terrorism, Media, Constructed Truth and Identity

References

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[5]	Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and self-identity: Self and society in the late modern age. Stanford University Press.
[6]	Hamid, O. S. (2015). The Spinner’s Tale. Pan Macmillan India.
[7]	Hassan, I. (1987). The postmodern turn: Essays in postmodern theory and culture. Ohio State University Press.
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[12]	Kellner, D. (1995). Media culture: Cultural studies, identity and politics between the modern and the postmodern. Routledge.
[13]	Lyotard, J.-F. (1984). The postmodern condition: A report on knowledge (G. Bennington & B. Massumi, Trans.). University of Minnesota Press.
[14]	Malpas, S. (2005). The postmodern. Routledge.
[15]	McHale, B. (1987). Postmodernist fiction. Routledge.
[16]	Musharraf, P. (2006). In the line of fire: A memoir. Free Press.
[17]	Nayyar, A. H. (2003). The subtle subversion: The state of curricula and textbooks in Pakistan. Sustainable Development Policy Institute.
[18]	Rabbi, F. (2016). Islamization under General Zia-ul-Haq (1977–1988): An analysis. Al-Adwa, 6(2), 25–36. https://ia802808.us.archive.org/0/items/12ARV06I02/16-EN-V06 I02.pdf
[19]	Ravetz, J. R. (1990). The merger of knowledge with power: Essays in critical science. Mansell Publishing.
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[21]	Shamsie, K. (2002). Salt and saffron. Bloomsbury Publishing.
[22]	Spivak, G. C. (1988). Can the subaltern speak? In C. Nelson & L. Grossberg (Eds.), Marxism and the interpretation of culture (pp. 271–313). University of Illinois Press.
[23]	Zia-ul-Haq, M. (1985, August 14). Islamization of Pakistan: Zia’s vision. Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/features/1985/8/14/islamization-of-pakistan-zias-vision

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Kharal, Q. A., Dilawar, S. (2025). Deconstructing Power: Ideologies, Webs of Hyper-reality and Metanarratives in Hamid’s The Spinner’s Tale. English Language, Literature & Culture, 10(4), 128-136. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20251004.11

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Kharal, Q. A.; Dilawar, S. Deconstructing Power: Ideologies, Webs of Hyper-reality and Metanarratives in Hamid’s The Spinner’s Tale. Engl. Lang. Lit. Cult. 2025, 10(4), 128-136. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20251004.11

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Kharal QA, Dilawar S. Deconstructing Power: Ideologies, Webs of Hyper-reality and Metanarratives in Hamid’s The Spinner’s Tale. Engl Lang Lit Cult. 2025;10(4):128-136. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20251004.11

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@article{10.11648/j.ellc.20251004.11,
  author = {Qasim Ali Kharal and Shanza Dilawar},
  title = {Deconstructing Power: Ideologies, Webs of Hyper-reality and Metanarratives in Hamid’s The Spinner’s Tale
},
  journal = {English Language, Literature & Culture},
  volume = {10},
  number = {4},
  pages = {128-136},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ellc.20251004.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20251004.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ellc.20251004.11},
  abstract = {This research explores the ideologies that help individuals gain power and control over people through the analysis of Omer Shahid Hamid’s The Spinner’s Tale. Main characters in the novel, like Ausi and Omer, have used religious ideology to empower and attain their personal objectives. Political, religious, and social ideologies are narratives simulated through media and feigns to extend political power. This qualitative study tries to bridge the social and religious ideologies through a theoretical framework of hyper-reality and concept of metanarrative. The intertwined postmodern theorists included Jean-Francois Lyotard, Jean Baudrillard, and Fredric Jameson to help reveal the construction of dominant/totalizing metanarratives. This study tries to fill the gap through exploring post-9/11 socio-political anxieties bridging contemporary Pakistani literary criticism. The idea mirrors local narratives, broadening global discourses of terrorism intervened through hyper-real constructs of media and state power. The article develops strong argument to mark digital saturation, surveillance, and ideological fragmentation in present era disclosing Pakistan struggling with identity, belonging, and resistance through narrative of The Spinner’s Tale. The findings indicate towards an intentional vagueness of the novel's inference to highlight the necessity to inquire the narratives that are popular in postcolonial societies through the lens of a postmodern theoretical framework.
},
 year = {2025}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Deconstructing Power: Ideologies, Webs of Hyper-reality and Metanarratives in Hamid’s The Spinner’s Tale

AU  - Qasim Ali Kharal
AU  - Shanza Dilawar
Y1  - 2025/10/30
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DO  - 10.11648/j.ellc.20251004.11
T2  - English Language, Literature & Culture
JF  - English Language, Literature & Culture
JO  - English Language, Literature & Culture
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EP  - 136
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2575-2413
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20251004.11
AB  - This research explores the ideologies that help individuals gain power and control over people through the analysis of Omer Shahid Hamid’s The Spinner’s Tale. Main characters in the novel, like Ausi and Omer, have used religious ideology to empower and attain their personal objectives. Political, religious, and social ideologies are narratives simulated through media and feigns to extend political power. This qualitative study tries to bridge the social and religious ideologies through a theoretical framework of hyper-reality and concept of metanarrative. The intertwined postmodern theorists included Jean-Francois Lyotard, Jean Baudrillard, and Fredric Jameson to help reveal the construction of dominant/totalizing metanarratives. This study tries to fill the gap through exploring post-9/11 socio-political anxieties bridging contemporary Pakistani literary criticism. The idea mirrors local narratives, broadening global discourses of terrorism intervened through hyper-real constructs of media and state power. The article develops strong argument to mark digital saturation, surveillance, and ideological fragmentation in present era disclosing Pakistan struggling with identity, belonging, and resistance through narrative of The Spinner’s Tale. The findings indicate towards an intentional vagueness of the novel's inference to highlight the necessity to inquire the narratives that are popular in postcolonial societies through the lens of a postmodern theoretical framework.

VL  - 10
IS  - 4
ER  -

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Author Information

Qasim Ali Kharal

Department of English, Lahore Garrison University, Lahore, Pakistan

Contact Email

http://orcid.org/0009-0009-1265-2392
Shanza Dilawar

Sialkot Grammar School, Sialkot, Pakistan

http://orcid.org/0009-0005-9763-8426

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Kharal, Q. A., Dilawar, S. (2025). Deconstructing Power: Ideologies, Webs of Hyper-reality and Metanarratives in Hamid’s The Spinner’s Tale. English Language, Literature & Culture, 10(4), 128-136. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20251004.11

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ACS Style

Kharal, Q. A.; Dilawar, S. Deconstructing Power: Ideologies, Webs of Hyper-reality and Metanarratives in Hamid’s The Spinner’s Tale. Engl. Lang. Lit. Cult. 2025, 10(4), 128-136. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20251004.11

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AMA Style

Kharal QA, Dilawar S. Deconstructing Power: Ideologies, Webs of Hyper-reality and Metanarratives in Hamid’s The Spinner’s Tale. Engl Lang Lit Cult. 2025;10(4):128-136. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20251004.11

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@article{10.11648/j.ellc.20251004.11,
  author = {Qasim Ali Kharal and Shanza Dilawar},
  title = {Deconstructing Power: Ideologies, Webs of Hyper-reality and Metanarratives in Hamid’s The Spinner’s Tale
},
  journal = {English Language, Literature & Culture},
  volume = {10},
  number = {4},
  pages = {128-136},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ellc.20251004.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20251004.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ellc.20251004.11},
  abstract = {This research explores the ideologies that help individuals gain power and control over people through the analysis of Omer Shahid Hamid’s The Spinner’s Tale. Main characters in the novel, like Ausi and Omer, have used religious ideology to empower and attain their personal objectives. Political, religious, and social ideologies are narratives simulated through media and feigns to extend political power. This qualitative study tries to bridge the social and religious ideologies through a theoretical framework of hyper-reality and concept of metanarrative. The intertwined postmodern theorists included Jean-Francois Lyotard, Jean Baudrillard, and Fredric Jameson to help reveal the construction of dominant/totalizing metanarratives. This study tries to fill the gap through exploring post-9/11 socio-political anxieties bridging contemporary Pakistani literary criticism. The idea mirrors local narratives, broadening global discourses of terrorism intervened through hyper-real constructs of media and state power. The article develops strong argument to mark digital saturation, surveillance, and ideological fragmentation in present era disclosing Pakistan struggling with identity, belonging, and resistance through narrative of The Spinner’s Tale. The findings indicate towards an intentional vagueness of the novel's inference to highlight the necessity to inquire the narratives that are popular in postcolonial societies through the lens of a postmodern theoretical framework.
},
 year = {2025}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Deconstructing Power: Ideologies, Webs of Hyper-reality and Metanarratives in Hamid’s The Spinner’s Tale

AU  - Qasim Ali Kharal
AU  - Shanza Dilawar
Y1  - 2025/10/30
PY  - 2025
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20251004.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.ellc.20251004.11
T2  - English Language, Literature & Culture
JF  - English Language, Literature & Culture
JO  - English Language, Literature & Culture
SP  - 128
EP  - 136
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2575-2413
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20251004.11
AB  - This research explores the ideologies that help individuals gain power and control over people through the analysis of Omer Shahid Hamid’s The Spinner’s Tale. Main characters in the novel, like Ausi and Omer, have used religious ideology to empower and attain their personal objectives. Political, religious, and social ideologies are narratives simulated through media and feigns to extend political power. This qualitative study tries to bridge the social and religious ideologies through a theoretical framework of hyper-reality and concept of metanarrative. The intertwined postmodern theorists included Jean-Francois Lyotard, Jean Baudrillard, and Fredric Jameson to help reveal the construction of dominant/totalizing metanarratives. This study tries to fill the gap through exploring post-9/11 socio-political anxieties bridging contemporary Pakistani literary criticism. The idea mirrors local narratives, broadening global discourses of terrorism intervened through hyper-real constructs of media and state power. The article develops strong argument to mark digital saturation, surveillance, and ideological fragmentation in present era disclosing Pakistan struggling with identity, belonging, and resistance through narrative of The Spinner’s Tale. The findings indicate towards an intentional vagueness of the novel's inference to highlight the necessity to inquire the narratives that are popular in postcolonial societies through the lens of a postmodern theoretical framework.

VL  - 10
IS  - 4
ER  -

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